Stage Curtains for School Auditoriums
Main house curtains, legs, borders, backdrops and cycloramas in flame-retardant velour - made to measure and installed on manual or motorised track.
The Stage Curtain Set
What each piece does, and which ones a school stage genuinely needs on day one.
Main House Curtain
The curtain the audience sees closed before the show. Full-height velour across the proscenium, usually at 75-100 percent fullness, on a centre-opening traveller track. This is the one to spend money on - it is on view the whole time.
Legs
Vertical black drapes at the sides of the stage, in pairs, masking the wings so the audience cannot see performers waiting to enter or crew moving. Two or three pairs is a working minimum.
Borders
Horizontal black drapes across the top, masking the overhead bars, lighting fixtures and the flown ends of the legs. Borders and legs are specified together - they define the visible stage opening.
Backdrop / Cyclorama
The rear surface the performers are seen against. A plain backdrop in black or a school colour is the simple option; a cyclorama in light grey or white takes coloured light and gives an infinite-looking background.
Mid-Stage Traveller
A second drawable curtain part-way upstage, letting you play a scene downstage while the next is set behind it. Genuinely useful for annual-day productions with multiple items.
Track, Pelmet & Drive
Aluminium traveller track with nylon carriers, master carriers and overlap, a pelmet or valance masking the track from the house, and either a rope-pull system or a motor with wall keypad and limit switches.
Indicative Stage Curtain Prices
| Item | Basis | Indicative rate | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton / polyester drape (legs, borders, backdrop) | Per sq ft of finished curtain | Rs. 180 - 400 | Matte black for masking; colourfastness matters more than weight |
| Heavy cotton velour (main house curtain) | Per sq ft of finished curtain | Rs. 400 - 900 | Heavier fabric hangs better and blocks more light and sound |
| Manual rope-pull traveller track, installed | Per running foot | Rs. 900 - 2,200 | Fine for legs, borders and narrower stages |
| Motorised traveller track with controller | Per running foot | Rs. 2,500 - 6,000 | Worth it above roughly 24 ft wide, or where students operate it |
| Pelmet / valance | Per running foot | Rs. 600 - 1,800 | Masks the track from the house; usually matches the main curtain |
| Flame-retardant treatment | Per sq ft | Rs. 25 - 70 | Skip if the fabric is inherently FR; always obtain the certificate |
| Installation, rigging and dressing | Per stage | Rs. 25,000 - 90,000 | Depends on height, access and whether a bar system already exists |
Prices are indicative ranges in Indian Rupees, excluding GST, for budgeting only. Stage curtains are made to measure, so the rate depends on the finished size, the fullness ordered, the fabric selected and the track and drive specified.
The fullness trap. Curtain fabric is priced on the flat area of cloth, not on the opening it covers. A 30 ft wide opening dressed at 100 percent fullness needs 60 ft of fabric width. Two quotations can look wildly different purely because one assumed 50 percent fullness and the other 100 percent, for what appears on paper to be the same curtain. State the fullness in the enquiry and insist that every quotation names it back to you.
A Worked Example
Main house curtain for a typical school proscenium: 30 ft wide by 16 ft high, centre opening, 75 percent fullness.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | 30 ft wide x 16 ft high | 480 sq ft of opening |
| Fabric width at 75 percent fullness | 30 x 1.75 | 52.5 ft of fabric width |
| Finished curtain height with hem and top tape | 16 ft + allowance | ~16.5 ft |
| Fabric area to price | 52.5 x 16.5 | ~866 sq ft |
| Velour at Rs. 400 - 900 per sq ft | 866 x rate | Rs. 3.5 - 7.8 lakh |
| Motorised track, 32 ft with overlap | 32 x Rs. 2,500 - 6,000 | Rs. 0.8 - 1.9 lakh |
| Pelmet, installation and dressing | - | Rs. 0.5 - 1.3 lakh |
| Indicative total, main curtain only | - | Rs. 4.8 - 11 lakh |
Note how much of that is fabric. If the budget is tight, the honest lever is fullness and fabric weight, not the track - dropping from 100 to 75 percent fullness removes a quarter of the fabric cost and is barely visible from the fifth row, whereas a cheap track on a heavy curtain will jam within a year.
What to Put in the Order
Stage curtains are one of the easiest items to buy badly, because two quotations for "a stage curtain" can describe completely different products. Six lines make them comparable.
Finished size and fullness. State the opening dimensions, the finished curtain height including hem, and the fullness percentage. Without fullness the price is meaningless.
Fabric, by weight and composition. Cotton velour or polyester velvet, and the GSM. Heavier hangs better and blocks more light and sound; lighter is cheaper and easier to handle.
Flame retardancy and evidence. Inherently FR or treated, with a test certificate - NFPA 701 is the test most commonly quoted here - against the batch supplied, not a generic letter. Confirm with your fire officer what they will accept.
Making details. Lined or unlined, hem depth, chain weight or lead tape in the hem, webbing and tie-lines or hooks at the top, and whether the vertical seams are on the pleat lines.
Track and drive. Track section and load rating, carrier type, master carrier and overlap, manual rope-pull or motor. If motorised: limit switches, manual override for a power failure, and a lockable keypad position.
Installation scope. Who provides the fixing structure above the proscenium, who works at height, and whether dressing and training the staff who will operate it are included.
Curtains, seating and acoustics interact more than people expect - heavy velour on the side walls is itself acoustic absorption, and a hall that is dead when the curtains are closed can be unpleasantly live when they are open. If you are treating the room as well, read the acoustics and sound system guide before finalising the drape quantities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a stage curtain cost?
Indicative ex-GST ranges, made to measure. A cotton or polyester drape for a school stage runs roughly Rs. 180 to Rs. 400 per square foot of finished curtain; a heavy cotton velour main curtain runs roughly Rs. 400 to Rs. 900 per square foot. Remember that you buy fabric by the flat area, not the opening: a curtain hung with 75 percent fullness uses 1.75 times the width of the opening it covers. Manual rope-pull track runs roughly Rs. 900 to Rs. 2,200 per running foot installed; motorised track with a controller runs roughly Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 6,000 per running foot. A 30 ft wide by 16 ft high main curtain on motorised track therefore commonly lands between Rs. 4.5 lakh and Rs. 11 lakh depending on fabric and drive.
What is curtain fullness and why does it matter?
Fullness is how much more fabric is hung than the opening width, and it is what makes a curtain look like a curtain rather than a flat sheet. Fifty percent fullness means one and a half times the opening width; a hundred percent means twice. A main house curtain is normally made at 75 to 100 percent fullness. Masking legs and borders, which are meant to look flat and disappear, are often made at zero to 25 percent. Fullness is the single biggest driver of fabric cost, so it must be stated in the order - a quotation that does not name a fullness figure is not comparable with one that does.
What fabric should a school stage curtain use?
For the main house curtain, heavy cotton velour is the standard choice because it absorbs light rather than reflecting it, hangs with good weight and looks right under stage lighting. Typical weights used for stage drapes run from around 400 GSM upward, and heavier fabric both hangs better and blocks more light and sound. Polyester velvet is cheaper and more colourfast but reflects more light. For masking legs and borders, a matte black fabric is more important than an expensive one - the job of masking is to be invisible.
Do stage curtains need to be flame retardant?
Yes, and you should insist on documentation. Drapes in a public assembly hall must be either inherently flame retardant or treated, and the test most commonly quoted by Indian suppliers is NFPA 701. Ask for the test certificate against the actual fabric batch, not a generic claim, and confirm with your local fire officer what evidence they will accept for an occupancy certificate. Note that topically treated fabric loses its treatment on washing, so it must be dry cleaned by a process that preserves the finish, or re-treated.
What curtains does a school stage actually need?
A minimum working set is the main house curtain across the proscenium, two or three pairs of legs to mask the wings, matching borders to mask the overhead bars and lighting, and a backdrop or cyclorama at the rear. That set lets you open and close a show, hide the wings, and give performers a clean background. Everything beyond that - a mid-stage traveller for scene changes, a separate cyclorama on its own track for lighting effects, a guillotine or contour main - is worth adding only once the basics are in place.
Should the main curtain be manual or motorised?
Motorised is worth the money on a main house curtain above roughly 24 feet wide or where students operate it. A rope-pull traveller on a wide heavy velour curtain needs real effort and gets uneven, which shows badly from the front; a motor gives a consistent, quiet, repeatable open and close from a wall keypad. Legs, borders and backdrops are almost always fixed or hand-drawn and do not need a motor. Specify limit switches, a manual override for power failures and a lockable control point so the curtain cannot be run during a performance by accident.
How high above the stage should curtains hang?
The main curtain hangs from a track set behind the proscenium header, with a pelmet or valance masking the track from the audience. Allow enough height above the opening for the curtain to clear fully and for the track and drive to be maintained - a metre of clear space above the header is a reasonable starting point on a school stage. The bottom hem should just clear the stage floor, typically by around 25 mm, with a chain weight or lead tape in the hem so it hangs straight and does not billow.
How are stage curtains maintained?
Vacuum the drapes on a low setting once or twice a year - dust is what makes velour look tired, and it also degrades flame-retardant treatment. Do not machine wash: dry clean by a process that preserves or restores the FR finish, and get a fresh certificate afterwards. Check the track carriers and the drive annually, and inspect the hem weights and the tie-lines at the top tape. With reasonable care a good velour main curtain will serve ten to fifteen years in a school hall.
Need Stage Curtains?
Send us the proscenium dimensions and a photo of the stage. We will quote the full drape set, track and installation, line by line.
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